Thawing the Sun
by Vampy-Chan
Summary: Heaven - a place where darkness blazes and light freezes solid. Bitter and aimless, Homura picks a new fixation... And his fixation is NOT pleased. HomuraKonzen YAOI


Hello all, and welcome to my demented little world. This is my little Homura/Konzen fic, the first part of two. If you like it, do review please, it encourages me to update faster. .

Warnings are pretty straight forward – male/male (duh) and slight kink (i.e, rough sex, bondage, ect.)

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Thawing the Sun

_Heaven - a place where darkness blazes and light freezes solid. Bitter and aimless, Homura picks a new fixation... And his fixation is not pleased._

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Konzen Douji.

Pure and cold as a glacier. Untouched and untouchable. It begs the question, then, of why his silks cling to him so, why his body slinks through the halls with the natural sensuality of a lion prowling for its prey. Perhaps he is truly unaware of himself.

Ethereal, golden beauty, pale and blinding as sunlight on snow as he storms by me. He is angry, again. Ah – and now he has found that which he seeks, the _itan_ child, the sweetly innocent heretic that turns to him as a flower to the sun.

As _she_ had turned to me until so recently.

The child is enthralled with him, it is plain to see, even as he cries out with indignation at his keeper's furious shouts and blows. And just as plainly, to any discerning eye at least, Konzen adores the child, no matter how much it may pain him that he does so. How I envy them both; it angers me, that this itan child knows the light that I was never afforded. Yet their brilliance draws me near, just as it has drawn both the Marshal Tenpou and the General Kenren.

Reach out, stroke the empty air, and the bond pulses palpably between them; and just beneath the surface, humming softly, lies something more, something even more primal, something that burns to the touch. It has already begun to crack that glacial veneer. But for now it lies dormant, the child much too young to feel true lust, or to evoke it. For now, Konzen Douji remains untouched.

He will not remain that way for long.

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"Hey! I saw you in the flower field the other day, right? You never told me your name! Whatcha doing here? How come you got chains on your wrists? I got chains too, see?" 

The boy's wide golden eyes, itan eyes, are utterly free of pretense or ulterior motive as he gazes up at me, gesturing at the shackles around his neck, wrists and ankles. He is speaking to me simply because he wishes to speak to me. The simple innocence of it cuts me to the quick.

"Na, na, your eyes don't match! One's the same color as mine are! They told me my eyes meant something bad… What about yours?"

My shoulders tighten. Anger roils up inside of me, hissing and uncoiling like a great snake. A child. A simple, innocent child. His only mistake was to have been born, to live. The mistake that I made as well.

The chains that hang from his shackles clink musically as he reaches up to tug at the robe hanging loosely from my shoulders. "Hey, do you know why I have to wear these? Since you're wearing them too I thought maybe you'd know…"

_Because you are an abomination. Because you had the gall to come into this world. You must wear them because you threaten their precious, aimless existence here in what they laughably deem "Heaven." Because you are the same as I am. _

I feel the corner of my mouth quirking into a faint, pale imitation of a bitter smile. I haven't much energy left for bitterness, since they took her. Abruptly I step around him, brushing his hand away. I cannot bear his eyes any longer; innocence to mirror my own, light reflected in the dark. Without looking back, I hear my own voice speaking as if it does not belong to me.

"Homura."

"…Huh?" the child blurts behind me.

"That is my name. Homura."

And I walk away.

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He stands there and watches me with his usual air of perpetual displeasure as I lean against the doorframe, standing upon the threshold of his office; but I see his eyes flick to my wrists, the skin around his eyes tightening subtly. "Is there… something I can assist you with?" he asks.

So perfectly proper and polite, his words, and so disdainfully flung from his mouth, dripping with acidic irritation. He is not asking me whether he may assist me. He is demanding that I inform him of just why I've dared to interrupt his work. Beautiful as an ice sculpture, and yet at the moment he more resembles an aggravated cat. One could almost fancy the presence of a violently swishing tail.

Unbidden, a faint smile curls my lips. It has been a long time since I've felt so truly amused. "Perhaps…" I answer slowly. "The _itan_ child, the one called Goku. He is in your care, is he not?"

Crystalline eyes narrow sharply at me. "What exactly does that have to do with you?"

What does that have to do with me, he asks. What kind of a fool question is that? I laugh; it is the only thing I can do. The pale man bristles, his anger crackling in the air. He does not like to be laughed at.

"Do you truly feel the need to ask me this, Konzen Douji?" I ask him, lifting my wrists to display my chain and shackles.

He ignores my question. "Who are you?"

I lift an eyebrow. "You don't know who I am? You really must be utterly impervious to court gossip."

A faint sneer twists that sharp-boned face, clearly admonishing me without words – _Don't flatter yourself, you pompous ass_. "I have better ways to spend my time than listen to idle chattering amongst the cherry blossoms. You haven't answered my question. And why are you here?"

"To meet you, of course. Is it truly that strange of a concept? Surely even you have acquaintances outside of this stuffy palace." I tilt my head curiously as I gaze at him. He is uneasy. This pleases me, that I have unbalanced him. "Homura. I am Homura, the itan child of the emperor's court."

He is silent for a moment, disjointed pieces of information falling together behind his eyes, piecing together into a flash of recognition. Perhaps he has heard of me after all. "So… pleasant to make your acquaintance," he replies dryly. "Now, unless you had some pressing matter to discuss…" As he trails off he gestures broadly at his desk. "As you can see, I am currently quite busy."

He turns from me then to make his dismissal clear. I watch him for a moment as he returns to his seat, following the long line of his neck with my eyes as he bends his head over his work. His hair is pulled up high, leaving its paleness naked to my gaze. Such tender, white flesh. So pure and slender. I want to touch it.

I want to stain it.

His head snaps up with a startling glare as if he hears my thoughts. "Was there anything else…?" he inquires unpleasantly.

A quiet chuckle jars my chest. "No…" I murmur. "No, not at all. My apologies for intruding." I bow graciously and turn from him, stepping out into the hall. "Until next time, then," I call softly over my shoulder.

I am gratified with the sight of his face tightening, eyes widening, before I walk away.

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"Mnn? Hey, you're the guy from the other day! Homura, I remember!" The child beams with pride at his feat of memory. I make my lips into a small smile.

"Aah. Would your caretaker happen to be in at the moment?"

"Um, no, he went out… But he said he'd be back soon! You could come in and wait, if you want!"

I arch one eyebrow. Really, Konzen, you should teach this child more caution, don't you think…? Ah, well, so much the better for me. A polite incline of the head, and I step across the threshold. "That would be most appreciated, thank you."

There is something satisfying in the click of the door as the child closes it behind me.

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"Na, Konzen! This is Homura! One of his eyes is gold like mine are! I don't think he was born from a rock, though…"

Chilly blue eyes glare at me in suspicion and accusation. He is nervous. No, he is almost afraid, seeing me sitting here with his charge. It is true, then, that he loves this earth's child. He is unnerved by my apparent interest in the boy.

I wonder, what might he do if he knew that, for the time being at least, his worry would be better spent on his own personage…?

"You… What are you doing here?" he hisses at me.

The boy looks between us, confused at the hostility that radiates from his keeper in waves. I smile a quiet, secret smile at the blond man from where I sit cross-legged on the floor. The boy's hands are propped on my knees. Yes, this is dangerous, I tell the god with my heavy lidded eyes.

"Goku," Konzen states firmly. The boy makes a questioning sound, the crease in his brow conveying his unease with the tension that has filled the room. "Go play outside for a while."

"But -!"

"Now. I have something to discuss with… Homura."

The child's eyes glitter as he reluctantly rises. With a cheery goodbye for me and a petulant display of his tongue for his keeper, he scampers off, the door slamming behind him.

A moment of silence. Then – "And just what, pray tell, are you doing in my chambers, on my floor, in my living area, without an invitation?"

"Oh, but I was not uninvited," I drawl slowly, hearing the darkness in my own voice. "I asked for you, and the child invited me in to wait for your return. We were having a most delightful little chat."

The line of his body tightens, a spring winding; I wonder how much, how long it would take for it to snap. "What do you want?" he asks quietly, sharp but controlled.

"What do I want, you ask. Perhaps you spend too much of your time around vultures." Cloth rustles around me as I rise to my feet. "But I suppose that is inevitable. Heaven is so full of them, isn't it, Konzen Douji? Picking what meat they can use from one's still-living bones and tossing aside the rest to rot in the sun. That is the way of Heaven, don't you think? Or perhaps, you are sheltered from such things, here in the embrace of Kannon's thousand arms."

Angry silence is my reply. I smirk.

"You needn't worry for the child. He is an interesting creature, that is all. I came here to find you."

"Tch. You still haven't told me why."

I let his words hang for a moment, and then I swiftly glide over to him where he stands by the door. He takes a step back in alarm, but then catches himself and holds his ground. _You will not frighten me in my own home and how dare you have the audacity to even try_, he is attempting to tell me.

_You are frightening me_, is what he is telling me.

I am close enough to feel the warmth of him. His body is strained in rejection of my closeness, his sharply narrowed eyes cutting into my own. They widen subtly. "Your eyes…" he mutters.

"Revolting, aren't they?" I whisper viciously in return, surprised at the bitterness that wells up so quickly, so easily.

His brow creases. "What…"

I let my teeth show in a brief mockery of a smile. "Or perhaps, given your current… circumstances, that sort of thing appeals to you? A child of taboo, a dirty, dangerous creature… But surely _you_ would not have had such thoughts."

His face twists, distorts into a sneer of annoyed superiority, fear falling away in the face of this thing he is familiar with, comfortable with. "Do you really think that everything in Heaven revolves around you and your silly scandals, you little brat?"

I blink once, slowly. _Well, that was… unexpected_. "I beg your pardon?" I ask.

Icy eyes roll in a gesture of exasperation. "Just because you're obsessed with your own heritage doesn't mean that everyone else gives a damn. Some of us have more important matters to attend to than sit around and whisper about taboo children and their illicit affairs. Yes, yes," he says with a wave of his hand before I can actually voice my question, "I know about that girl, I asked about you after you so kindly interrupted my work this morning."

_That girl_, he says. As if she had been just that to me, just a girl.

_Rinrei who was the only one who needed me, Rinrei who has been locked away from me, Rinrei who –_

I feel my eyes narrowing, though within I am filled with a curious, cloudy sort of calm. "If you know about her, then you know that everyone talks. If you know about her, then you know why I am angry."

_- only wanted forever by my side, and as if it was not enough to see the hurt in her eyes when we both so furiously tried to believe I would not die someday, they took what time I had to give away from her as well, leaving us both alone, alone, alone…_

The blond man crosses his arms over his chest, somehow both imperious and defensive in the same gesture. "Your anger is yours to keep, and whether it is justified or not, it has nothing to do with me. I don't care what you are or who you are, what I see is little more than an insolent child trespassing in my chambers, and I just want you out." He lifts an arm and points rigidly at his door, lips pressed in a tight line.

I stare at him. He does not care, he says. I am simply an insolent brat, he says. I laugh abruptly, and though it is a quiet sound I can hear the hysterical edge to my voice. He does not care, he does not care. How intriguing. How insulting. How… liberating.

His eyes slowly widen and the glimmer of fear returns to them at the sound of my laughter – yes, Konzen, I am mad, completely mad, exactly like that child of yours, just look into my eyes to see it, written there for all to see. He starts to step around me, but I move forward, slam my hands up against the wall, trapping him between my arms. He tries to back away but there is nowhere for him to go. My chain drapes gently over his chest, a dark line against white silk and pale bare shoulders.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hisses angrily, eyes blazing coldly as they stare up into my own. His face is flushing prettily. Chest rising and falling against my chain, he breathes heavily through his nose, the hollow of his throat deepening visibly just below his collar. His throat is so very white against the silver of the jewelry, the gold of his hair. Oh, how I want to stain it.

"You are an even more interesting person than I supposed, Konzen Douji," I murmur, moving one hand from the wall to lightly trace a finger down the straining cord in his neck.

He flinches away, turns his head in an effort to escape the touch. The movement exposes the back of his neck to me. There is something about the brightness of his hair at the nape, pulled so tightly away from that pure whiteness, the clean shining line of it next to the porcelain of his skin… It seems so naked, somehow, a forbidden sight. I feel an illicit thrill shiver through me, tightening in my groin.

And suddenly, jarringly, the door opens and the spell shatters. Konzen starts at the sound, and I step away from him smoothly.

"Konzen! I just saw – " The child halts mid-sentence as he enters the room, senses the tension laying in the air like a physical thing, taut and suffocating. "Kon…zen…?" He looks uncertainly at his keeper where he stands against the wall, arms interlocked, fingers pressing into his own flesh hard enough to bruise, just above the silk of his gloves.

"Knock before you open a door, you idiot monkey," Konzen growls softly.

"No matter, I was about to take my leave anyway," I drawl, inclining my head politely. I step around the boy, patting his head as I move past. "You may have your keeper back, for now, Goku." Large golden eyes blink up at me in confusion. I pause at the threshold of the door, looking back over my shoulder. "Until next time," I murmur, relishing the bewildered unease on the man's face as I close the door behind me.

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End file.
